'Racial prejudice rising in Britain'

According to The British Social Attitudes survey, which has been carried out annually since 1983 by social research company NatCen, 30 per cent of 2,000 people polled described themselves as either "very" or "a little" race-prejudiced, indicating that it had risen from 25 per cent of people - its lowest - in 2001.

The research, published by the Guardian, also shows that men born between 1960 and 1979 are one of the most likely groups to admit being racially prejudiced. It found that levels of racial prejudice increased with age, at 25 per cent for 17 to 34-year-olds compared with 36 per cent for over-55s.

The shadow justice minister, Sadiq Khan told the Guardian that the findings should come as a wake-up call.

He said: “This is clear evidence that we cannot be complacent about racial prejudice. Where it manifests itself, it blights our society. Those in positions of authority must take their responsibilities seriously. It also falls to us to address the underlying causes.”

Trevor Phillips, former chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, added: “Integration doesn’t happen by accident – you have to work at it. If we want to avoid a slow descent into mutual bigotry, we need to drop the dogma, stop singing kumbaya to each other, weigh the evidence without sentiment, recognise the reality, and work out a programme – both symbolic and practical – to change the reality.”

Posted on: 28/05/2014 11:06 AM

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